The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton will hope to kick off a late title fight after taking pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix from team mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton didn’t get it all his own way though, after he had to abandon his chance at a second flying lap in Q3 following a large lock up into turn 1. Luckily for him his first time was unbeatable and he claimed the pole position from team mate Rosberg by just over four tenths of a second. The pole position means this is also Hamilton’s 100th front row start of his career, a landmark achievement that only seven time world champion Michael Schumacher has previously reached.
“The car felt fantastic today, I really enjoyed it,” Hamilton told the media after the session. “The lap? It could have been faster.”
In contrast it was a rather underwhelming session for Mercedes team mate Rosberg. The current championship leader made critical mistakes on his first flying lap attempt, and at one point looked to have fallen behind both Ferrari’s and both Red Bull’s in 5th position. His second lap was not much better and he was already two tenths down on Hamilton before the final sector, where he ran wide into the last corner and cost himself yet more time. The lap did see hi improve to 2nd, but Hamilton was out of reach for him today.
“It would have been close, but that’s the way it is,” Rosberg admitted. “Lewis just felt more comfortable out there today and we’ve seen this year that the qualifying result isn’t decisive.”
Much like the all Mercedes front row it’s an all Red Bull second row, with Max Verstappen out qualifying Daniel Ricciardo to line up 3rd and 4th respectively. Verstappen has had the edge to Ricciardo on the last two practice sessions and throughout Qualifying looked more dialled into the car, though Ricciardo looks close to his team mate on long run pace. The key for both Red Bulls will be the start tomorrow and leapfrogging the Mercedes duo. All while keeping the Ferrari’s behind them.
The Ferrari’s carry on the Noah’s ark theme of the grid with an all Ferrari third row, Sebastian Vettel was able to bean team mate Kimi Raikkonen to 5th on the grid. Much like Verstappen, Raikkonen did look to have the edge on Vettel at certain points during the weekend, especially in the qualifying sessions. However, Vettel pulled out the lap when he needed to, to line up ahead of him team mate in 6th. Behind them is an all Force India fourth row, with Sergio Perez winning that particular inter team battle to line up 7th on the grid, with Hulkenberg in 8th.
Breaking the rather monotonous two by two formation is the McLaren of Jenson Button who qualified 9th on his 300th race weekend. The result, while not the best of the season for McLaren, shows much improvement from the team and in particular from the Honda engine. Meanwhile the Williams of Felipe Massa lines up in 10th, having out qualified his team mate Valtteri Bottas for only the third time this season. Bottas will line up 11th for the race, though with free choice of tyre he may be a threat in the race.
McLaren didn’t have it all their own way though as Fernando Alonso will start last after taking two separate engine penalties. But this certainly looks like a case of pain this week will be reward next week, as Alonso introduced a new and improved Honda engine unit into his pool of engines. The thought is he will run it next weekend at the Japanese grand Prix, the home race of Honda.
The key tomorrow is going to be temperature, the qualifying session was a lot later than the race will be, meaning there was a fluctuation in temperature. The Ferrari’s have already said they will do better than Red Bull if it is warmer tomorrow in the race. In terms of pace Mercedes do not look to have the margin they have at other races here, as both Red Bull and Ferrari look close to them. The main thing Rosberg and Hamilton have to worry about tomorrow will be the start. It’s a long way down to turn 1 and the Mercedes drivers are both guilty of being slow off the start line this season. They cannot afford such a mistake tomorrow with a driver’s championship on the line. And as ever, never rule out the threat of a rain storm in Malaysia, which may just shake up the order even more.
Malaysia GP Qualifying
Q3
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:32.850
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, + 0.414
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 0.570
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, + 0.617
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, + 0.734
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 0.782
7. Sergio Perez, Force India, + 1.469
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, + 1.639
9. Jenson Button, McLaren, + 1.668
10. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 1.821
Q2
11. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:34.577
12. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:35.001
13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:35.097
14. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:35.227
15. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:35.369
16. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:35.374
Q1
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:35.816
18. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:35.949
19. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:35.999
20. Esteban Ocon, Manor, 1:36.451
21. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:36.587
22. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:37.155
Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Racing Press Release
